[author]Su Guoxu

[content]

*Author Su Guoxun

Former researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Abstract: Since his introduction to China in the 1980s, Max Weber has been one of the most influencing Western sociologists in the Chinese academia for the good match of his complex ideas t o t he needs of the modernization there. Even so, his ideas are not free of challenges in the Chinese context. In this essay the author compared Max Weber with Mu Zongsan a representative of Neo-Confucianism in their conceptions relative to the Western or Chinese culture, and clarified the complementary relationship between Confucianism and Western theoretical reason. Considering the features native to the Chinese or Western culture the author criticized Max Weber’s Eurocentrism, which was contrasted to the inclusiveness of the Chinese culture.

Keywords: Max Weber; theoretical reason; moral reason; Eurocentrism Since being introduced to China in the 1980s, M. Weber has had a strong and lasting impact on China's academic thinking due to the complexity of his ideas and their compatibility with China's modernization needs. However, M. Weber's ideas are not impeccable for China. This article compares the discourse of Mu Zongsan, one of the representative figures of Neo Confucianism, on Chinese and Western culture with M. Weber's concept of Chinese and Western culture, clarifying the complementary relationship between Chinese Confucianism and Western theoretical rationality. On this basis, this article starts from the inherent characteristics of Chinese and Western cultures and the historical experience of communication between China and the West, criticizing the core of Western centrism in M. Weber's thinking, and using it as a reference, demonstrating the inclusiveness of Chinese culture.

1. The Eastward Spread of M. Weber's Thought: A Brief Examination of the Sociology of Knowledge

As one of the three founders of classic sociological theories, M. Weber's ideas were familiar to the Chinese academic community much later than Marx and Durkheim. Marx's ideas spread to China with the sound of the Russian October Revolution (1917). After the 1950s, due to ideological reasons, the works of Marx and Engels were translated and published as complete collections by the official Central Compilation and Translation Bureau. As the country's belief system, their influence can be said to be well-known. Tu Ergan's works were translated and published by Mr. Xu Deheng (Sociological Methodology, 1929) and Mr. Wang Leyi (Wang Li) (Social Division of Labor, 1935), who studied in France, around the 1930s. The publication of these two works in Chinese translations not only made Durkheim and the French Yearbook School of Sociology, led by him, famous in the Chinese academic community, but also deeply rooted the functionalism he vigorously advocated in Chinese sociology. At that time, people viewed Durkheim more as a holism functionalist, emphasizing his methodological approach of studying society like studying "things", which focused on his social realism dimension and lacked a deep understanding of his sociological ideas as a tension between classical empiricism and transcendentalism. For example, his advocacy of a "society" or "sociality" that exists outside of people's consciousness and has a certain compulsion on their actions is a conceptual reality composed of morality, "collective consciousness", or "collective representation". Obviously, this belongs more to what Durkheim called "sociological rationalism" rather than, or mainly, empiricism or positivism. Due to the positivist ideas of Chinese sociology originating from England and France, in the early stages of their introduction, A. Comte and Spencer's reductionism social organism theory and Durkheim's holism functionalism theory spread widely and were almost universally known. In contrast, German M. Weber is rarely known for his emphasis on exploring social understanding and interpretive approaches from subjective intentions (meaning) and individual actions. In addition, most of M. Weber's ideas were later transmitted from English through American translation. Although he belonged to the same generation as Turgan, he became famous outside of Germany much later than Turgan. Perhaps this is why early Chinese sociological literature rarely mentions M Tthe reason for M.Weber's name.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Marxism was established as the theoretical basis for the guiding ideology of the state. Due to ideological reasons, the class struggle and social revolution advocated by Marxism seriously conflicted with the political conservatism of order and progress in Western sociology since A. Comte. Therefore, the teaching and research of sociology were abolished in the adjustment of higher education departments in 1952. This measure means that sociology, which was introduced from the West during the peak of Western learning in the late Qing Dynasty and the critical moment when the Chinese nation was facing extinction, unfortunately died due to external intervention after half a century of vibrant development. In addition, it was isolated from the international academic community for a long period of time, resulting in China's social science knowledge system remaining relatively incomplete and closed during this period. In the upsurge of reform and opening up in 1980, taking the opportunity of the establishment of the Institute of Sociology by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, some colleges and universities successively restored or set up sociology departments. Sociology in Chinese Mainland broke through many obstacles and finally came back under the new situation. M. Weber's ideas began to spread in the Chinese academic community with the recovery of sociology. In 1987, due to the joint translation of "Protestant Ethics and Capitalist Spirit" by Xiao, Chen Weigang, and others, which was published by Sanlian Bookstore in Beijing, M. Weber's academic ideas began to be understood by Chinese readers. Although the academic community in Taiwan had already published the translated version of the book by Mr. Zhang Hanyu as early as the 1960s, as well as the later compiled "Academic and Political, Selected Works of M. Weber (I)" by Mr. Qian Yongxiang (1985), due to the information isolation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait at that time, such a picture book was difficult to reach the hands of mainland scholars. It should also be mentioned that Chinese scholars have previously published sporadic M Ssome translations of M. Weber's works, such as "A General History of World Economy" (1981) by Yao Zengzi and "Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism" (1986) edited by Huang Xiaojing and others, are somewhat overshadowed in their sociological significance as the former is published as an economic book, while the latter is an edited version with all important annotations removed, making it difficult to discern M The complete picture of Weber's ideology will undoubtedly diminish its academic value.

The Chinese academic community introduced M. Weber's ideas in the mid to late 1980s Weber's ideas are not only related to the opportunity when sociology had just made a comeback, but also to its important social background and profound academic reasons. As is well known, the 1980s was a period of flourishing social and economic reform and opening up in China. Economic reform gradually deepened from rural areas to cities, and social productivity developed rapidly. However, social transformation will inevitably come with the pains and risks of institutional innovation. The drawbacks of reforming the old system involve the vital interests of many departments, requiring people to transform their thinking and behavior patterns according to the market economy model, and rearrange and coordinate interpersonal relationships. In addition, due to China's vast territory, there are significant differences in natural conditions between the north and south, as well as the level of development between the east and west. During the reform process, new inequalities may also arise. As income inequality widens, social stratification begins to emerge, and corrupt practices such as corruption among civil servants spread and become increasingly rampant. Social problems abound, and social conflicts become increasingly intense. All of these indicate that China's reform and opening up policy has brought about new bottlenecks in social and economic development. In response to these new phenomena and problems, the social science community must make its own judgments and answers.

Setting aside other factors for now, considering only the long-term interests of the nation state, the Chinese intellectual community at that time could draw inspiration from M. Weber's writings on the German nation-state in the late 19th century were greatly inspired. At that time, the German Juncker landlord dictatorship advocated the path of agricultural capitalism, which became a serious obstacle to the development of German industry; The German middle class is an increasingly powerful economic force, but lacks political maturity in leading and governing the country. M. Weber made his own choice based on careful observation and reflection: out of a sense of mission to the German nation and a sense of responsibility to history, he claimed to be an "economic nationalist" in national interests, while in national political life, he expected himself to "pursue politics as his career.". Think of M. Weber sometimes identifies with the ancient Israeli prophet Jeremiah and sees him as a political leader of the people, also known as a political propaganda agitator. He faces the people in the streets with tears in his eyes, criticizes domestic and foreign policies, or exposes the corruption and corruption of the privileged class of the authorities, only out of a sense of mission to convey divine revelation to the people, rather than out of a love for politics itself. However, M. Weber realized soberly in his heart that modernity is an era of rationalization, rationalization, and disenchantment, during which there is no room for religious prophets to establish themselves. As a person who has chosen politics as their profession, they can only act according to ethical responsibility. This means being loyal to oneself, deciding on one's own course of action based on one's established values, acting with a responsible attitude towards the consequences, and fulfilling one's duty with a sense of responsibility to meet the current demands of daily life. Perhaps, M. Weber's unique perspective and his discourse on modern capitalism as a rational labor organization were somewhat in line with the situation of China's reform and opening up at that time, and provided some inspiration for intellectual thinking, thus prompting people to turn their attention to this long lost German sociologist.

In addition, since the end of World War II, the rise of the "M. Weber fever" in the international academic community and neighboring countries has also attracted attention from the Chinese academic community Weber’s remembered the triggering effect. M. Weber's fame first originated in the United States, which is related to Parsons, who later founded the Structural Functional School. In his early years, Pasteur studied in Germany to study society. In 1927, he obtained a doctoral degree on the debate in the German academic community (M. Weber and Sambart) about the spirit of capitalism. After returning to the United States, he was about to return to M. Weber's book "Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism" was translated into English and published in 1930, and his famous work "The Structure of Social Action" systematically discusses M. Weber's theoretical contributions to sociology in a wide range of fields led to M. Weber rose to fame in the English speaking world and became well-known in the international academic community. After the 1950s, M Many of M. Weber's works have been translated into different languages and published around the world, studying and interpreting M. Weber's second-hand works have also sprung up like mushrooms after rain. The "M. Weber Revival" movement that emerged in the 1960s in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was caused by the development of German empirical sociology (Cologne School) following the American approach after World War II, which seriously conflicted with the critical theories of the Frankfurt School, which returned from the United States to Germany after the war. This sparked a decade long debate in German sociology about positivism. Due to the fact that the two leading figures participating in the debate were both academic heavyweights of the time, and several topics in the debate - the logical problems of social sciences (Karl Popper vs. Adorno), the "value neutrality" problem of sociology (Parsons vs. Marcuse), and the late capitalist ideology problem (Darrendoff, Soisi vs. Adorno) (see Adorno, 1976) - all directly or indirectly originated from the debate on M tThe understanding of M. Weber's ideas and the in-depth discussion and debate on these major issues have a significance and influence far beyond the scope of sociology, and have important reference and reference value for the entire contemporary social science community. As a result of this debate, on the one hand, it prompted M Tthe heating up of M. Weber's ideological research in the international academic community; On the other hand, it also contributes to the long-standing understanding of M. in the American sociological community, represented by Parsons The empirical interpretation of Weber's thought - "Parsonian M. Weber" - provides a thorough analysis of the origin, the removal of falsehood, and the preservation of authenticity. For example, in the Parsons style interpretation, M. Weber's rich and profound historical sociological thoughts on the comparison of diverse social development models are distorted and attached as examples or illustrations of the modernization theory of linear development history. Therefore, in the debate, the rich connotations of M. Weber's ideasM. was revealed from a methodological perspective The rich connotations of Weber's ideas, as well as M Tthe true nature of Weber's ideas, as well as the de Parsenization, is exactly what the M. Weber Renaissance movement should be about.

With the economic takeoff of the "Four Little Dragons" in East Asia, the research boom of M. Weber began to spread eastward.   How to explain this phenomenon and its relationship with M Tthe relationship between M. Weber's discourse on Confucianism has become a common concern in the international academic community. American sinologists held two international academic seminars in Japan and South Korea in the 1960s on the relationship between Confucian tradition and modernization; In the early 1980s, Hong Kong also held an international academic conference on "Chinese Culture and Modernization", whose central topic was to explore the relationship between Confucian ethics and the economic takeoff in East Asia. Many scholars have attempted to use M. Weber's religious beliefs influence economic behavior to explain the rise and modernization of East Asian economies. Those who view "religious ethics" as "cultural values"; There are also those who regard "Confucian culture" as a substitute for "Protestant ethics", and when explaining the rise and modernization of the East Asian economy, they analogize the relationship between Confucian tradition and the "Four Dragons" to the relationship between Christianity and Europe, America, and Buddhism to East Asia; Some people have added M. Weber's discourse originated from the rationalist spirit of the Enlightenment movement in Western Europe, which extended beyond the West, such as Japan, and so on. All of this, whether in favor or against, has led to cultural discussions centered around the economic takeoff of East Asia in regions traditionally influenced by Confucian culture, in contrast to M. Weber's discourse on the origin of modern capitalism and Chinese culture has a close relationship, objectively promoting M Tthe publication and dissemination of M. Weber's works and ideas in China.

2. Chinese Thought and M. Weber's Dialogue: Taking Mu Zongsan as an Example

M. Weber's discourse on Asian religions is concentrated in two books, "Religion in China: Confucianism and Taoism" and "Religion in India: Hinduism and Buddhism". As for his discourse on "Ancient Judaism", although geographically belonging to West Asia, its influence mainly lies in the Christian world of Europe and America outside of Asia, so it is not included in the list of Asian religions. In M According to M. Weber (2006), if examined from the perspective of Asian culture, Chinese culture has played a role similar to that of France in modern Europe, while Indian philosophy is comparable to ancient Greece. The meaning is that in Asia, Chinese culture focuses on secular life and is adept at insight and handling of human relationships and worldly wisdom, making it a culture of entry into the world; Indian culture is adept at transcending metaphysical philosophical speculation and belongs to a transcendent culture. M. Weber's reference standard for comparative cultural research is the unity of European culture or European culture. His discourse on Chinese religion and other Eastern religions, like the metaphor above, is only used as a contrast to highlight the characteristics of Western civilization, making it difficult to transcend the inherent "Eurocentrism" perspective of Western colonizers of his time. In this sense, M. Weber's discourse on China contains both insightful insights and biased fallacies. Generally speaking, Chinese people are accepting M In Weber's early days (1970s -1980s), coinciding with the beginning of the implementation of the reform and opening up policy, the social science community had just begun to engage with the international academic community. The urgent task was to gain a better understanding of the external world, and he adhered to the "borrowing principle" approach. At that time, attention was paid to the views, discussions, and challenges of Western culture, which is the otherness of Chinese culture. Following the ancient Chinese motto of "listening to others at the same time makes one clear", the aim was to make up for one's own shortcomings by learning from their strengths and draw inspiration for self-development. If it were for M. at that time The stage of learning and accepting M. Weber's ideas, thirty years later today, is in a period of digestion and reflection, which more reflects the cultural awareness of Chinese people in foreign cultural exchanges.

M. WeberIn his preface ("Capitalist Spirit and Rationalization") to his collection of papers on religious sociology, Weber explicitly stated that the purpose of his comparative cultural research is to identify the reasons that led to the emergence of modern capitalism in Europe. After a detailed examination of the different characteristics of religion, culture, science and technology, law, administration, and business operations in the Eastern and Western worlds, he believed that Western culture possessed a unique form of "rationalism" with universal significance and value that other cultures did not possess. In addition, the combination of other social structures and institutional factors ultimately led to the emergence of modern capitalism in Europe. Although M Iin "Religion in China: Confucianism and Taoism," M. Weber takes a relativistic stance and believes that Chinese culture, represented by Confucianism, also belongs to rationalism. However, this rationalism of Confucianism differs significantly from the rationalism of Western culture represented by Puritanism: "rationalism of Confucianism means rational adaptation to the world, while rationalism of Puritanism means rational domination of the world" (M. Weber, 2004:332).

In M In Weber's explanation, Puritans were originally motivated by a religious ethics - to reject worldly temptations and focus on soul salvation, but in the middle, there was a turning point in the doctrine of "predestination" and "duty view", which led to believers being enthusiastic about secular economic behavior. This was originally an unexpected behavior of "living but not for the world" and "unintentionally planting willows and willows to shade", demonstrating the transcendence of Christianity from the inside out. "A true Christian, a ascetic who is both born and born, hopes to be nothing but a tool of God; in it, he finds his dignity, and since this is what he expects, he becomes a useful tool for rational transformation and domination of the world." (Id.: 333) In M. Weber believed that Confucianism lacked the work of rationalizing and transforming the world (see above: 325). In other words, the "inner sage" effort of guiding people with sincerity, righteousness, substance, and knowledge, while the independent personality advocated by Confucianism, which is characterized by a "gentleman without tools," is completely opposed to the Puritans' desire to become "tools of the gods." How can it be transformed into the "outer king" aspirations and achievements of self-cultivation, family harmony, governance, and world peace? There is a lack of intermediary transformation like the Puritans' "predestination theory" and "duty view", coupled with other factors such as family property, bureaucratic system, and social structure, which leads to Confucianism focusing on internal moral cultivation and personal self-improvement, while ignoring external achievements, ultimately leading to scientific cognition and democratic politics. Unable to achieve significant development. M. Weber's conclusive judgment not only has important implications for Western studies of Chinese studies, but is also frequently mentioned in contemporary discussions on the revival of traditional culture in China, with direct or indirect impacts occurring in different forms.

Mr. Mu Zongsan, a representative figure of contemporary Neo Confucianism, has mentioned issues related to this in his own writings, which can be seen as a positive response of Neo Confucianism to the challenge of Western culture. Mu Zongsan (1988:164) defined the essence of Chinese culture with the "spirit of comprehensive reasoning" and explained the essence of Western culture with the "spirit of decomposed reasoning" in his book "Philosophy of History". Afterwards, he proposed two concepts: "the expression of rational application and the expression of rational structure.". The so-called functional presentation originates from virtue, which refers to the meaning of "seeing nature through action" in Zen Buddhism, the concept of "using to see form" in Song and Ming Confucianism, and the concept of "seeing difficulty in change" in the Book of Changes; The "reason" in this application expression clearly refers to Kantian practical reason, which refers to the virtue in personality, and its application expression is the appeal of this virtue, or the wisdom and wonderful use of virtue, obviously belonging to the level of virtue, that is, the inner sage kung fu. The "rationality" in structural presentation (frame presentation) refers to the theoretical rationality that loses the virtue in personality, that is, the meaning of practical rationality, and transforms into non moral meaning. Therefore, it is also on the level of intelligence (Mu Zongsan, 1992:155). Mu believed that the Western cultural system is the "intellectual form" of intelligence, with the spirit behind it being the "decomposed and rational spirit", and its external manifestation being the conceptual mentality. Therefore, in Western culture, national institutions, legal systems, democratic politics, logic, mathematics, and science have formed. And Chinese culture is a culture of benevolence and intelligence, a culture of benevolence and intelligence. Therefore, how to transform from the spirit of "comprehensive reasoning" to the spirit of "decomposed reasoning", from the expression of "rational application" to the expression of "rational structure", and to open up a new external king of scientific democracy from the inner sage of Confucianism, these are three interconnected problems that the revival of Confucianism must solve. In his article "The Application and Architecture of Reason", Mu Zongsan attempts to solve the problem of modern transformation of Chinese culture by using "moral rationality self-trap". He believes that democracy and science cannot be directly deduced from the application of inner sage and moral rationality, and must go through a "tortuous" process. In other words, moral rationality can only become interpretive rationality (theoretical rationality) through self-trap and self-negation, thus achieving democracy and science. The self-trap of moral rationality is to make benevolence step aside and temporarily detach wisdom from benevolence in the cultural model of the unity of benevolence and intelligence, becoming "pure intellect" and opening an independent system of intelligence:

From the inner sage to the outer king, there is a mutation in the turning point, rather than direct reasoning, under the melody. This means that the use of rationality cannot directly deduce architectural performance. However, transitioning from using performance to architectural performance is not necessarily a direct transformation, but a curved transformation. This curve represents a sudden change in a turning point. (Mu Zongsan, 1992:166)

Mu's "moral rationality self trap theory", in a positive sense, acknowledges the shortcomings of Chinese culture, namely the so-called "there is orthodoxy but no academic or political orthodoxy". For this reason, he advocates negating the unfavorable factors that hinder the emergence and formation of science and democracy in China, and solving the problem of how to develop a new external king from the inner sage in Confucianism; In a negative sense, it is similar to Liang Shuming's statement that "Chinese culture is rational and precocious", with the implication of defending the ethical suppression of cognitive development in Chinese culture:

In terms of realm, application performance is superior to architectural performance. But without architectural representation, there cannot be buildings. On the one hand, Chinese culture has a high level of wisdom and atmosphere, but on the other hand, it is empty, which makes people's minds feel too miserable So, without the emergence of science and democracy in China, modernization cannot be achieved. It is impossible to surpass, not inferior. Chinese culture only develops towards the use of expression, without developing a structured expression. The use of performance alone is no longer sufficient now. Both the expression of rational architecture and the application of expression need to be presented. As long as one understands the full meaning and joints of rational expression of spiritual development, the statement of precocious puberty may appear inappropriate or unnecessary. (Mu Zongsan, 1992:161)

At first glance, both Mu's statement that "Chinese culture cannot be surpassed, it cannot be underestimated" and Liang Shuming's statement that "Chinese culture is precocious" have traces of defending Confucianism. However, Mu's explanation of the spirit of decomposition/comprehensive reasoning, structural expression/application expression, theoretical (observational) rationality/practical rationality, intellectual form/benevolence and intelligence unity form, ethical neutrality/ethical relevance, religious/ritual and music type, Fang Yizhi/round and divine (both are Yi Jing language), and coordinate relationship (coordinate). A series of corresponding concepts, such as "tion" and "subordination", are used to represent the different characteristics of Chinese and Western cultures. Among them, there are indeed more profound and thought-provoking contents than Liang's theory, He profoundly revealed the inherent transcendental nature of Chinese culture as a manifestation of rational application from a theoretical perspective, as well as the difference and complementary relationship between its external transcendental nature and that of Western culture as a representation of rational framework - "complementing each other to achieve its beauty, balancing each other to remove its obscurity.". M. Weber criticized the lack of tension and opposition between transcendental and secular systems in Chinese culture. From Mu's "dialectical thinking" perspective, its correctness lies in pointing out that Chinese culture lacks the intermediate structure of science and democracy. This is not only a deficiency of Chinese culture as a "comprehensive and rational spirit," but also its strengths compared to Western culture; Similarly, this is not only the strength of Western culture as a spirit of decomposition and rationalization, but also its weakness compared to Chinese culture. Chinese culture is a comprehensive and rational spirit. The so-called "comprehensive" refers to "thorough communication from top to bottom, and internal and external connections"; "Diligence" refers to dedication, dedication, ethics, and restraint. Diligence and dedication refer to the internal aspect of benevolence and righteousness, which is in the sense of the ritual system of ritual and music; From the perspective of social etiquette, it is said to fulfill the inherent nature of benevolence and righteousness. All the reasoning done belongs to moral and political matters, and is not external to nature; It is practical, not cognitive or observational; It is something that belongs to the value and the "rightful world", but not to the nature and the "real world".

China (culture) first grasps life, while Greece, one of the sources of life in Western culture, first grasps nature. Their use of their minds and expression of their spiritual light is in observing and interpreting nature The use of Chinese people's minds is introverted, flipping from the inside up; The West, on the other hand, is extroverted, flipping upwards from the outside. To understand the theory of nature, it is to turn from the outside up and grasp the reason for the formation of the natural universe. What it observes is nature, and the light of the soul that can be observed is intelligence. So in Western culture, we can call it the "system of intelligence", with a particularly prominent aspect of intelligence. (Mu Zongsan, 1988:169)

The intelligence seen in Western culture belongs to the "intellectual intelligence", which can certainly demonstrate the "intellectual subject" and highlight the "conceptual soul", thus also producing science and democracy; The life of Chinese culture, regardless of Taoism, Confucianism, or Buddhism, is rooted in the transcendent "intuitive wisdom". Western culture believes that this kind of transcendent intelligence belongs only to the divine heart of God, while Chinese sages believe that it can be transferred from the human heart. Mu Shi referred to this "intuitive intelligence" as "round intelligence or divine intelligence" and believed that "if the human heart has a layer of super intelligence, it cannot be fully understood in Western culture, which is a regrettable thing that solidifies its cultural life at its origin" (same as above: 179). Based on this, Mu concluded that "although the cultural life of the West is the spirit of decomposition and rational reasoning, it cannot be further melted from the root, melting into the spirit of comprehensive rational reasoning. On the other hand, although the cultural life of China is the spirit of comprehensive rational reasoning, it cannot be transformed from its source, opening up the spirit of decomposition and rational reasoning" (see above: 174).

That is to say, when comparing Chinese and Western cultures, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. From a future perspective, middle school may not necessarily be inferior to Western learning, and Western learning is not necessarily superior to middle school; In reality, it's just that each has its own function and purpose. The ideal culture for the future will inevitably be a unified form of culture that discards the shortcomings of both and combines their strengths. Obviously, this is related to M. Weber's perspective of comparing Chinese and Western cultures from binary confrontation and zero sum game is completely different, while Mu's perspective is completely complementary and convergent to view the differences between Chinese and Western cultures. This will pave the way for the integration of Chinese and Western cultures and the pursuit of natural harmony, making the concept of "achieving harmony" in Chinese culture more constructive in the current era of globalization.

This is what Mu said, "The full meaning and joints of rational expression of spiritual development.". Only by understanding this can we understand that Confucian thinkers eliminate M. from the dimension of the inner world M. Weber style tension and opposition lead to personal fulfillment. In other words, M. Weber criticized Confucianism for not interpreting this opposition transcendentally for its own reasons, but he did not understand the significance of Confucianism in eliminating this opposition in the inner world and the fundamental difference between outward transcendence and inward transcendence. That is to say, overcoming the tension and opposition between transcendence and secularism externally is a characteristic of Western culture, ensuring the significant development of intelligence and the fruitful achievements of democracy and science in practical work. This is indeed a major strength of Western culture; Eliminating the tension and opposition between transcendence and secular in the heart is a characteristic of Chinese culture. While introverted transcendence focuses on benevolence and righteousness, it blocks the path of intellectual development. Therefore, it is necessary to go through a turning point of self trap (self negation), make way for the development of intellectual development, and ensure that the inner sage opens up a new scientific and democratic outer king. M. Weber attributed the strengths of Western culture to the weaknesses of Chinese culture, but at the same time, he disdained to acknowledge the strengths of others in order to protect his own shortcomings, which is precisely the "Eurocentrism" in his consciousness. Here we are recruiting R Bella's analysis of "Father and Son in Christianity and Confucianism" clarifies the difference and significance between introverted transcendence and extroverted transcendence. R. Bella examines the family letters written by the imperial censor Zuo Guangdou during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty (1621-1627), who was falsely accused of opposing eunuch Wei Zhongxian and was tortured to death. She compares the positions of Chinese and Western cultures on the relationship between father and son (filial piety and Oedipus patricide complex):

This attitude (referring to the cultivation advocated by Confucianism, such as "not yielding to power and not indulging in wealth and status" - quoted as a note) reflects a true heroic loyalty, even in such moments of crisis, one remains unmoved. The power and continuous roots of a great civilization are displayed in these words and phrases. However, at the same time, Confucianism's discourse on the relationship between father and son has blocked any outcome of the Oedipus complex, except for filial piety - in the final analysis, filial piety is not targeted at a particular individual, but rather at a pattern of personal relationships that people hold in order to have ultimate legitimacy In the West, starting from the era of Moses' revelation, every particular pattern of social relations has been derived from the principle of ultimate. In China, filial piety and loyalty have become absolute (Bellah, 1970:96).

From the perspective of outward transcendence, the ultimate goal is not the organic social order of nature, but to turn to a transcendent reference point, that is, the absolute reality of transcendence: everything in nature only has relative value, and God is absolute. For example, in the Jewish Christian tradition, the rationalization of intellect endows God with the status of "Creator" and regards it as the ultimate reality that is absolutely unchanging, omnipotent, omniscient, and transcends reality. On the other hand, the introverted and transcendent Chinese culture is exactly the opposite. In the words of Mu, the Confucian school's sincerity and the inner sage's skill of seeking knowledge from things are based on the heart, and everything starts with "benevolence", grasping the fundamental principle of "life" from the beginning. When dealing with the chaotic and simple reality of life, it is based on "people", "protecting one's own life internally, and settling the lives of all people externally". Therefore, its relationship with the human world is an organic relationship of nature (benevolence). This culture, which is connected by secular and social relationships, is more compatible and friendly than all Western cultures that start from "intelligence". Therefore, Chinese culture "permeates the virtue of good life with its wisdom of life, affectionately confirming that the transcendent absolute entity is a 'universal moral entity'" (Mu Zongsan, 1988:66). Due to the nature of duty, in Chinese culture, nothing can be proven to have legitimacy beyond this universal moral entity - the heart of benevolence and righteousness. This is the inherent transcendence of Chinese culture in terms of morality. In this sense, Confucianism's concept of "internality" refers to "human nature", which is the inner spirit of the person who is human, such as "benevolence", "deity", etc; The so-called "transcendence" refers to the basis or essence of the existence of the universe, namely "Heavenly Dao", "Heavenly Principle", "Tai Chi", etc. As another contemporary scholar who holds a Confucian perspective, Tang Yijie (1991:2-3), once said, "The 'transcendence' and 'internality' of Confucian philosophy are unified, thus forming the problem of 'internal transcendence' or 'transcendence of internality' - which becomes the ideological foundation of Confucian philosophy's' unity of heaven and man '. It is the ideal realm pursued by Confucianism and the reason why Confucianism is the spirit of Confucianism." In this way, Tang Yijie corresponds "internality" and "transcendence" to what Confucius said about "life" and "the way of heaven.". By comparison, in the West, the term "transcendence or transcendence" refers to external excellence and transcendence beyond oneself; Philosophically, it refers to an independent existence that transcends experience, such as Plato's "absolute idea"; Theologically, it refers to the combination of the "ultimate reality" of the Moses revelation era (Judaism) and the "absolute idea" of ancient Greek philosophy in Christianity to become the "absolute existence", that is, God. In short, Christianity's emphasis on "transcendence" establishes the basis for the "separation between gods and humans" in Western culture; Confucianism advocates the unity of "transcendence" and "internality", which forms the foundation of the "unity of heaven and man" in Chinese culture. The former is the path of separation, while the latter is the path of integration. The differences between them are as insightful as observation, leading to vastly different development paths between Chinese and Western cultures.

From the perspective of epistemology, a fundamental characteristic of rationalism is its identification of laws or the existence of rules, and the presupposition of laws is a prerequisite for rational thinking. In this regard, both Western and Confucian cultures are rationalistic. Western culture assumes the existence of the law of nature and natural law, while Confucianism also presupposes the existence of "Dao" and "Li". Although the concept of "Dao" was mainly elucidated by Taoist philosophy during the pre Qin period, it was also shared by Confucianism and other schools of thought. Later Song and Ming Neo Confucianism derived the concept of "Li" from it, both of which emphasized the existence of some universal law or order. However, the laws referred to by Western rationalism refer to the natural world and natural law as objects of knowledge, while the laws focused on by Confucian rationalism mainly refer to the "Dao" and "Li" in any society. Therefore, one of the main classics of Confucianism, "The Great Learning", wrote at the beginning: "The way of great learning is to have clear virtue, to be friendly to the people, and to stop at the ultimate good." This is exactly what Confucius called "knowledge of people.". The former starts from nature and regards any society as similar to nature; The main focus of the latter is on humans and society, and they view nature as neutral between humans and society. In this sense, it can be summarized that Western culture is centered around nature, while Chinese culture is people-oriented. In social theory, both Western rationalism and Confucian rationalism believe that there exists a universal order in the social world (the former is called natural law, while the latter is called "ritual"), and both consider this order to be consistent with social justice, justice, and morality. They both believe that rational people can recognize, produce, and abide by this order, and thus become moral subjects. However, there is an important difference between mainstream Western philosophy and the intersection of Confucianism: firstly, the transcendence of the universal order in Western culture lies in the identity between humans and nature (or sacred) things (external transcendence), while the universal order in Confucian culture is both transcendence and internality (internal transcendence); Secondly, the former believes that social order is atomistic and mechanistic (social ethics), while the latter believes that social order is holistic and organic (social realism); Thirdly, in the former, the emphasis on moral laws (natural law) is similar to natural laws, while in the latter, it is the moral existence (ritual) of humans that distinguishes them from nature and other beings. Based on this, it can be inferred that Western natural law is imposed on individuals from society from the outside and emphasizes rights; And ritual is the definition of various interpersonal relationships, emphasizing obligations and responsibilities.

Mu's above viewpoint can also be regarded as a consistent and well founded stance choice of traditional Confucianism in the relationship between morality and science. That is, when scholars are inherent in science itself and do not consider its relationship with morality at all, science can be said to have "ethical neutrality"; But when scholars are outside of science and reflect on the human world, that is, from the perspective of human activities and cultural ideals, science cannot be completely separated from morality. At this time, it can be said that science has an "ethical connection", and the two are complementary. The external and internal aspects here refer to the relationship or stance of the cognitive subject towards science. Chinese culture can be said to be ethically oriented, but for science, it is clearly inclined towards an external stance. This position is very close to the strong program perspective of social causationlity emphasized in contemporary philosophy of science's macro explanatory strategies for the growth of scientific knowledge. For example, the Edinburgh School's Sociology of Knowledge, represented by B. Barnes and D. Bloor, as well as the Bath School's Social Studies of Science, advocated by H. Collins and others, believe that social factors such as interests, beliefs, morals, and values are external to scientific rationality, and that scientific cognitive activities not only occur externally through scientific policies, scientific organizations, evaluation standards of scientific communities, scientific development levels, and directions, but also externally. Influence, and also exert an inherent influence on the content of scientific cognition. Historians of science refer to this viewpoint as the sociological turn of scientific rationality, which is influenced by T T. Kuhn's book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" has influenced a social historical perspective in the philosophy of science (J.R. Brown, 1984). Similar insights can also be found in W W. Quine's criticism of the empiricist dogma of the unity of concepts and facts in categories, P. Feyerabend's study of historical examples to demonstrate the strengths of anarchist methods in scientific understanding, and Wittgenstein L. Wittgenstein's assertion in later linguistic philosophy that there is a correlation between understanding facts and the framework of a certain form of life, as well as R. Rorty's discourse on the position of philosophy and science in culture, is reflected. Their consensus lies in emphasizing the "relativity" or "practicality" position of human cognition, questioning the normative conceptual system that science relies on to classify and organize the world, which does not truly exist. This has led to the formation of conceptual relativism, directly threatening Kant's epistemology of studying phenomena with certainty. Philosopher of Science L. Laudan (1997) referred to it as the view of external rationality, while the opposite view is called the view of rationality. This indicates that even in the core of Western culture - the philosophy of science - heterogeneous factors similar to Chinese cultural expressions have emerged. It can be seen that the concept of external rationality not only exists in Chinese culture, but also in Western culture.

Secondly, although Mu's viewpoint differs from M Tthe concept of "value neutrality and value relevance" in M. Weber's methodology of social sciences is similar in form, but differs in substance: firstly, M. Weber's concept refers to social sciences such as sociology; Mu Zongsan, on the other hand, spoke about science as a comprehensive concept. He discussed the relationship between science and morality from the theoretical rationality and practical rationality of Kantian philosophy (i.e. epistemology), further elucidating the characteristics and complementary relationships of Chinese and Western cultures. Secondly, M. Weber's intention is to clarify at the level of social science methodology why social research only explores the causal relationships between phenomena, which is difficult to be effective. It must also be supplemented by an understanding of the subjective meaning hidden behind phenomena, that is, the motivation for action, that is, meaning. Therefore, meaning value is to social action what time space is to natural phenomena, and they all participate in the construction of object facts, thus belonging to the constructive principle. In this context, "value relevance" is the basis for social sciences to have "value judgment" and belongs to the right assertion; And "value neutrality" has the property of fact descriptions, belonging to the statement of fact. In a superficial sense, it reminds scientific researchers to abide by professional ethics and strict self-discipline, not to indulge subjective preferences just because social phenomena have value, and to achieve academic abstinence. In this context, "value neutrality" is a normative principle. But in a deeper sense, this is M tThe manifestation of M. Weber's inherent tension in "sociology of understanding": he used "value relatedness" to reject the positivist trend in European sociology in the late 19th century that advocated social sciences only focusing on facts and not involving values, and used "value neutrality" to oppose the subjective bias of the historicist school in German economics in erasing the objectivity of social sciences. On a deeper level, this is M. Weber, as a Neo Kantian, distinguished phenomena from noumena and explored the relationship between science and morality. In this sense, M. Weber clearly combines the two aspects of reason (explanation) and meaning (understanding), which is more comprehensive and reasonable than a purely empirical approach. But further extension, in M In Weber's context, value neutrality (causal analysis) is associated with the ethics of responsibility, while value relatedness (understanding of meaning) is associated with the ethics of belief (see Schlumberger, 1986). In this way, the external ultimately needs to move towards the internal, and transcendence still plays a role through the return to ethics, which can be said to be a different path and the same goal as Confucianism, which was originally based on internal ethics.

However, in the eyes of some, such as Leo Strauss, M. Weber's approach is a typical modern dualism that modernity forces people to accept. Since the Enlightenment, with the significant development of natural science, the mechanistic worldview has become popular. The pre modern teleological worldview has gradually been replaced by non-teleological (such as mechanistic) worldviews, leading to two completely opposite trends in Western academia. One belongs to rationalism, because a non-teleological worldview requires a non-teleological worldview to match it, which means that social life must be viewed from a mechanical and rational perspective. In other words, only desires and impulses, which are inherent abilities, can explain life and its meaning. This is the approach of empirical sociology such as Comte's "social physics". This leads to the absolutization of rationality in social understanding, which leads to the popularity of Hegel's naturalistic monism, normative knowledge, and the linear progressive concept of mechanistic historical views. Using this method to study human actions and their personal significance, which shows a mismatch between the method and the nature of the object, is clearly unsatisfactory. So, a compromise approach emerged: a non-purposive worldview in natural sciences and a teleological worldview in social sciences. The typical approach is M. Weber's distinction between facts and values, as well as his different approaches to value neutrality and value relevance. This position represents a rupture with Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas' own ideas of integration and leads to the proliferation of relativism and nihilism in social theory (Leo Strauss, 2006:8). In M. Weber's philosophy, the view that "the conflict between ultimate values cannot be resolved by human reason" is the premise and destination of his theory, because the most fundamental conflict in this conflict is the conflict between reason and value. From the perspective of Western cultural background, it is the conflict between reason and authority, that is, reason and revelation. Reason cannot solve the conflict of other values, because these values are ultimately only the manifestation of the most common, fundamental, and "eternal" problem in Western culture, namely "Athens and Jerusalem" (i.e. the rational spirit of Greek philosophy and the belief consciousness of Hebrew religion). Leo Strauss did not, on the surface, accuse M. from his theistic standpoint Weber, because directly appealing to religious reasons on this ultimate value would be almost arbitrary, but criticizing M. Weber: (1) The possibility of not returning to the daily experience of pre science and pre philosophy or understanding the "nature" of the world; Advocating non historicist research on the history of philosophy aims to reveal the fundamental problems that arise and accompany human thought, as well as the "unchanging framework" of fundamental choices to solve these problems, just like Aristotle's Metaphysics. According to this viewpoint, people should not start from a "scientific" understanding of things, but from a "natural" understanding of things. In the prescientific era, people simply equated "good" with "ancestral", and "ancient" and "own" meant "ancestral", thus believing in "natural right". However, in the scientific era, people often rejected "natural right" in the name of history or the distinction between facts and values, and replaced "natural right" with the concept of "natural rights". However, according to Strauss, "natural justice" is "virtues based," while natural rights are "rights based," and the two are incomprehensible. (2) M. Weber replaced this analysis with the construction of ideal types such as responsibility ethics and belief ethics. In Strauss's view, that artificial construction is also not important because it does not care about being consistent with the internal connections of social reality, so its role is not very clear (see Leo Strauss, 2006: 29,34). In the author's opinion, Leo Strauss approached M. from a political philosophy perspective Weber's methodology of social sciences, such as M. Weber's traditional/rational dichotomy of social change, deliberate emphasis on opposing contradictory struggles, and the anti-essentialist rule that ideal types as a pure thinking construct do not necessarily conform to reality, is critical to the attributes of modernity and its reflexivity, as well as the potential crises it may bring. Although it is not without reason, he firmly adheres to the absolutist stance of apocalyptic theology and accuses the distinction between facts and values of being the root cause of the proliferation of relativism and nihilism. He completely ignores the differentiation and integration relationship in modern social change and replaces the empirical analysis of epistemology with a priori ontological dogmatism, making a clear statement. Transformed from a natural philosophy in the Hegelian sense to physics, sociology The rationality and achievements of a series of empirical sciences such as anthropology. Its reasoning is similar to Dong Zhongshu's "Heaven remains unchanged, and the Way also remains unchanged", which is difficult to agree with. Regarding this issue, it is intended to be discussed in a specialized article and will not be discussed here.

Although the concept of Mu Zongsan also originates from Kantian philosophy in theory, its fundamental purpose is to "solve the problem of external kings through the study of Chinese inner sages.". In this sense, he pointed out that Western science and democratic politics are the results of rational structural expression, while the more developed in Chinese culture is the application of rationality, that is, the culture of unity of benevolence and wisdom, and moral leadership and cognition. In order to make up for the shortcomings of our own culture and solve the embarrassing situation in Chinese history and culture where the external king was regarded as a direct continuation of the internal saint in the past, resulting in the failure of Confucian officials and external kings throughout history (those who emphasize practicality are always useless, and those who emphasize practical achievements are always unsuccessful), it is necessary to first transform the moral and rational nature of Dao into a decomposed and rational spirit and a meritorious spirit through self-denial. Only in this way can the external king and internal saint be adapted without opposition, thus completing the transformation from internal saint to external king. Moreover, in Mu's view, although Chinese culture has its imperfections and shortcomings in its expressive form, it does not have any flaws in its original form. The Chinese culture, with Confucianism as its major tradition, is a culture based on morality. Although there is also controversy within Confucianism about which comes first, it is generally believed that the two are inseparable. As Lu Xiangshan once said, "If one does not know how to respect virtue, how can there be such a thing as seeking knowledge from the Tao?" According to Zheng Xuan's "Zhou Li", "virtue is called inner practice. In the heart, it is virtue, and in practice, it is action.". Visible virtue refers to virtues in a broad sense and inner personality qualities in a narrow sense; Virtue refers to the moral characteristics of human behavior. Filial piety is originally a virtue, but as a human being, the inherent quality of filial piety is virtue. The establishment of early value rationality in Chinese culture began with the emphasis on political morality in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. This kind of respectful political ideology can be easily explained from the historical experience of "replacing violence with virtue" during the three generations transition, and has shaped the cultural value orientation of China's pre axis era (Chen Lai, 1996). Chinese culture, as a "benevolent and intelligent spiritual entity" in its "original form," belongs to the "round intelligence or divine intelligence", similar to Hegel's "absolute spirit". In the objective historical journey, "it must disclose the society and all things in heaven and earth that it wears outside of the individual to enrich and expose itself." That is, it must objectify itself and absolve itself. Objectifying itself requires disclosing national politics and law. Therefore, national politics and law are the objectification of the spirit, and also the objective spirit. "At the same time, the spirit must also absolutize itself, that is, the spiritual subject rises, and thus establish a pole. At present, it is through absolute, confirming that" absolute reality "is also the spirit. Thus, it confirms absolute spirit (Mu Zongsan, 1988: 116-118). The inevitability contained in this is a kind of inevitability similar to Hegel's absolute spirit externalizing into an objective spirit of internal development. The so-called "inevitability of syndrome differentiation". Based on this, Mu (1992:4) concluded that:

"Confucianism and modernization are not in conflict, and Confucianism is not only passively 'adapting' and 'making do with' modernization, but also actively fulfilling its responsibilities in this process. We say that Confucianism can actively shoulder its responsibilities in the process of modernization, which means that it actively demands this thing from within the internal life of Confucianism, and can promote and achieve it. Therefore, Confucianism should not regard modernization as a problem of 'adaptation', but rather as a problem of 'realization'.".

Mu Zongsan not only directly refutes M. Weber's assertion that "the rationalism of Confucianism refers to rational adaptation to the world", but also demonstrates that this scholar of Neo Confucianism, as the leader of China's cultural revival, intends to return to the original and create new things in culture, carry on the past and open up (affirming the orthodoxy, opening up the academic tradition, and continuing the political tradition), and rebuild the sense of mission, responsibility, and value concern of moral idealism.

3. Neglecting "Western Centralism": Criticism of M. Weber's Thought

Mu Zongsan and M. Weber and his wife respectively serve as spokespersons for both Eastern and Western cultures. Their statements about the essence of Eastern and Western cultures are completely opposite. Although both sides are defending their own cultures and therefore have a taste of ethnocentrism, upon closer examination, one can discover the differences between them. Although Mu admitted that there are shortcomings in Chinese culture and that learning from the West is necessary to make up for it in the process of modernization, he did believe that only through complementarity can the vision of natural harmony between Chinese and Western cultures be found (see above: 65). What highlights here is the lack of Chinese culture and the natural harmony and complementarity between Chinese and Western cultures. However, M. Weber's assertion about Chinese and Western culture is "value neutral" in form, but in essence, it is closely related to his " Eurocentrism Western centrism" complex as the "son of European culture", thus being "value related"; Emphasizing the agency and self-sufficiency of Western culture in dominating the world, highlighting the agency and dependence of Chinese culture in adapting to the world, it is filled with the superiority of Western culture. It is generally believed that M. Weber is a relativist in comparative cultural studies, for example, his relativistic perspective that defines rationality from the perspectives of asceticism and hedonism. From this perspective, it is impossible to make value judgments on the superiority and inferiority of different cultures. Therefore, research is "value neutral". Next, we need to look at how culture, as a value and norm, guides people's social actions and what goals are achieved from this action. Then, we need to make judgments from the "validity" of the consequences. It goes without saying that whether and to what extent the consequences are appropriate are related to the predetermined goals of specific subjects, so research at this time is inevitably a value judgment related to specific standards and norms. Regarding M.  According to Weber (2004: 448), this standard is Western culture:

As the son of modern European culture, when studying world history, the following question should be raised: that is, in and only in the Western world, certain cultural phenomena with universal significance and value in their development direction have appeared. What kind of causal relationship should this belong to?

Next, after counting the remarkable achievements of the West in various fields such as economy, technological knowledge, culture, law, and administrative management, M. Weber answered the above question: "In fact, in all the examples mentioned above, the core of the question is the unique and special form of 'rationalism' in Western culture" (as above: 459). Based on this, M. Weber regarded his sociology as a study of "cultural history", with the primary task of understanding the characteristics of (general) Western rationalism and (special) modern Western rationalism, and explaining their origins. For this reason, his sociological themes are distributed on the one hand, represented by the study of "the determinants of economy" in "Economy and Society", and on the other hand, his series of comparative religious studies. In addition to his pioneering work "Protestant Ethics and Capitalist Spirit", which aimed to reveal the essential connection between "capitalist spirit and rationalization", he also examined the religions (Confucianism and Taoism, as well as Hinduism and Buddhism) originating from China and India, two ancient Eastern civilizations, and their various manifestations that contradict the essence of Western rationalism, as well as the geographical impact on Western civilization, although belonging to West Asia, under the overall theme of "Economic Ethics of World Religions". The ancient Judaism with significant influence. The consciousness of the question that permeates this series of comparative religious studies is: "Why hasn't the profit-making spirit of capitalism had the same effect in China or India? Why has the development of science, art, politics, and economy in these countries generally failed to enter the unique rationalization track of the West?" (Same as above: 459) In these insightful statements, it seems that only Western culture has this unique rationalistic essence, and only Western culture is a system with a unique development pedigree that is unrelated to other civilizations in the world, and is isolated and self-sufficient above other civilizations. To re-examine these conclusions now, it is necessary to examine the appropriateness of their discourse from the perspectives of the main body of Western civilization and its "others" - European culture and Eastern culture - as well as their interrelationships.

From the perspective of cultural anthropology, culture is a meaning system composed of ideographic symbols, which is very easy to spread across different systems. The mode of action and production of cultural dissemination is a state of flow, so communication studies use vocabulary such as circulation, communication, and so on to name culture. From the perspective of cultural change, any culture undergoes a process of occurrence, development, decline, and regeneration to varying degrees, which is a common phenomenon. Cultural change or development, in the final analysis, is the process of selecting, absorbing, and assimilating cultural elements from different systems, and turning them into their own constituent elements. This is not uncommon in different ethnic cultures, both ancient and modern. Therefore, culture is always a dynamic, open, and constantly changing system, and its development and growth can never be separated from the exchange, communication, and dissemination with other cultures. In M In Weber's native language, German, there is a clear boundary between culture and civilization: culture is something unique to a society, while civilization refers to something that can be spread from other societies; Culture is genetic, while civilization is communicable; Cultural development is the assimilation and absorption of special patterns, while the development of civilization is manifested by the continuous accumulation of quantity (Moran, 2005). M. Before Weber, Tennis metaphorically referred to culture as a community from a sociological perspective, believing that it is a group combination established by blood, customs, and habits, based on "essential will". It is inseparable from the process of life, and in the organic whole of the community, the purpose and means are consistent; Civilization, on the other hand, characterizes society, which is based on rational balance, that is, a group combination established by the will to choose. Here, people have various relationships through contracts, regulations, and systems, and social life is organized by power and law. The means are constrained by the purpose, causing the two to separate from each other, lacking the principle of "unity of life". Therefore, it is a mechanical synthesis. Jaspers referred to ancient times (hundreds of BC) as the Axis Civilization Era, not only because it was a "Axis Civilization Era" composed of Chinese, Indian, Jewish, Greek, and Persian civilizations, but also because all subsequent civilizations were derived from these "Axis Civilizations"; These civilizations have made outstanding contributions in the history of human civilization and are therefore the main sources of human culture. After the Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries AD), the world entered an era where various axial civilizations intersected with each other, especially after the 15th century, where no civilization system could stand out from other civilization systems. The so-called European or Western culture refers to the intersection of two major axis civilizations that began in the Middle Ages, namely the rational spirit of Greek civilization's categorization and causal reasoning of the universe, and the belief consciousness of Hebrew (Jewish) civilization's monotheistic worship, which expanded the tribal gods into universal gods (the so-called "Abraham faith system"). M. "Eurocentrists" like Weber often like to flaunt the unity of European culture itself, and deliberately avoid the fact that European culture has mainly inherited the four main heritages of Judea, Christianity, Greece and Latin in its own development process and absorbed the essence of other national cultures. The Greek and Latin origins are located on the border peninsula surrounding the Mediterranean on three sides, and indeed existed before the formation of the European concept; Judaism and Christianity, on the other hand, originated in the more distant western Asia and only began to develop after the formation of European concepts. There has always been tension within European culture between Athens and Jerusalem, namely between reason and authority, science and revelation. The same goes for other major civilizations. The intersection of the Axis civilizations of ancient Persia and ancient Judaism gave rise to Islamic civilization. After the introduction of Buddhism into ancient China, the two major axis civilizations of China and India were finally complementary and integrated into an important part of the Chinese civilization order that combines Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism after contact and adjustment. However, after the convergence of Islamic civilization and Indian civilization on the South Asian subcontinent, a new civilization has not yet formed, and currently, the two civilizations are still competing against each other and leaning against each other. Generally speaking, the integration of civilizations or cultural changes usually presents a process of mutual selection, absorption, and assimilation among different systems, leading to a dialectical development trend of similarities, differences, and similarities among the constituent elements of different systems, which is by no means like M As Weber said, European culture is a homogeneous, independent, and closed system that does not seek anything from outside. The Eurocentrism has been falsified by the research results of cultural anthropology to date.

In terms of modern history centered around Europe in recent centuries, the rhetoric of "European" subject identity is indeed a powerful metaphor, and even the "East" has correspondingly formed its own view of victimized history. However, European identity relies on a pure genealogy from Greece and Rome, known as the history/mythology from Plato to NATO. Only on the basis of this historical identity can Europe claim to have taken in science and technology from external, exotic East or Africa, including letters, algebra, astronomical calendars, African agriculture and water conservancy, Arab sailing ships, employees who know how to make paper, compass, gunpowder, printing, bridge attack, drawing, religious and artistic Jewish and Islamic influences, Moorish poetry, court rituals, and even Christian rituals, festivals, and classics. In fact, all these so-called "external" influences precede a "European" subject that can seek external desires and has self-identity. Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, and Christianity are not so much proof of pure European origins as cultural integration that preceded Europe. (Ella&Stam, 1994: 4. Quoted from Zhu Yuanhong, 1996)No wonder someone commented on this: "For Greece and Rome, which are claimed to be the origins of the 'European' genealogy, the cultural distance between the Near East, Middle East, and Egypt is closer than that of the barbarian tribes in northern Europe. 'Europe' with subject identity is a very recent modern myth. Many imaginations suggest that 'Europe' actively takes in, but in fact, it is constructed before subject identity." (Zhu Yuanhong, 1996). In other words, the essence of European culture that M. Weber talked about so much about is its domination over the world, which is just a "myth" similar to "Eurocentrism". At most, it is a artificially constructed discourse hegemony. The real situation is that the generation of European culture is the process of absorbing foreign Eastern cultures and merging with foreign cultures to form itself. Although M. Weber also mentioned in his discourse that China has a relatively long period of peace and unity compared to Europe, without mandatory identity restrictions, free migration, free choice of career, and no legal restrictions on borrowing and trade that are conducive to the emergence of capitalism. However, these favorable conditions are all aimed at highlighting the fact that due to the lack of a "special mentality" like the Protestant doctrine of asceticism, capitalism ultimately emerged in China. In fact, this is a feint of praise but a derogatory one, praise is for the sake of derogation. Not to mention his great subjectivity and arbitrariness in citing historical documents, he jumped from the Eastern Han Dynasty (1st century AD) to the early Qing Dynasty (17th century AD). Although there were occasional mentions of Wang Anshi's reforms during the Northern Song Dynasty, they were only accidental examples in discussing China's national taxation system and did not have substantive significance. As the saying goes, "I do not know the Wei and Jin dynasties, let alone the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties," during which China happened to cross the Middle Ages, which was almost advanced in all aspects compared to Europe. Just say M When Weber wrote about the issue of China, the West already had the main works on Chinese history, but the materials on Chinese religion, especially folk beliefs, were still incomplete, fragmented, and very unsystematic, mostly scattered in the accounts and second-hand materials of missionaries from various countries. However, M. Weber's meticulous and thorough analysis of the mystical nature of Chinese religion, as well as his tremendous leap in thinking when discussing the changes in Chinese history, also leave a deep impression on people. The difference between seemingly unintentional and actually intentional is thought-provoking. After all, the selection, complexity, and density of information must serve the main idea, which is naturally related to the author's value orientation. Coincidentally, in "The Decline of the West," Sch ö bingler also believes that since the establishment of the unified Qin Empire by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Chinese civilization has stagnated, and after the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has fallen into a rigid and static state. The subsequent Chinese history has been forgotten, at least in his discourse, it is not detailed.

Some people believe that M. Weber is not a Eurocentrist, partly because he argues for the selective affinity between the rational characteristics of Western culture and the spirit of modern capitalism. At the same time, he also reveals that modernity no longer requires the support of asceticism and religious ethics after achieving a high level of material civilization. His one-sided pursuit of instrumental rationality and devaluation of value rationality will inevitably lead humanity into a worrying situation of rational "iron cage", which indicates that M. Weber holds an individualistic pessimistic attitude towards the prospects of human development and a critical stance on Western culture. It is not in line with the optimistic sentiment since the Western Enlightenment, and also differs from the general " Eurocentrism Western centrism" stance, such as Parsons' structural functionalism and its variants - modernization theory - which is typical of everything being based on Western values. Therefore, it cannot be generalized. This insight may seem reasonable at first glance, but upon careful consideration, one will discover the problems and loopholes within it.

For example, M. Weber began his discourse on religious sociology from the perspective of religious evolution. In his discourse on the progressive process of religious evolution, the evolution of religion follows the path of pre pantheism pantheism polytheism monotheism, similar to the evolution of human intelligence from witchcraft to reason and from irrationality to reason. People's knowledge about the origin of religion is acquired from this evolutionary perspective. Under the influence of this knowledge framework composed of habitual and imperceptible concepts, it is natural to conclude that monotheistic beliefs are more advanced, refined, and even rational than polytheistic and pantheistic beliefs. Little do they know that this seemingly objective neutral religious knowledge and concepts are imbued with strong Western centric values. From M.  From Foucault's perspective on knowledge/power, it can be seen that this religious sociological knowledge, as a form of power, plays an important role in dominating people's spiritual realm. Using this conceptual framework to study Eastern or Chinese religious or folk beliefs will inevitably lead to the ignorance, ignorance, superstition, irrationality, pragmatism, utilitarian mentality, etc. of the Chinese people in the field of religious beliefs, just like M. As Weber argued, further inferring the conclusion that Western civilization is superior to Eastern civilization. In fact, this conclusion has long been falsified by anthropological research since the 19th century, and this approach of prioritizing one's own strengths over others has become the most criticized aspect of comparative or cross-cultural studies in the West. It fully demonstrates that the inherent world of EurocentrismWestern centrism is characterized by the separation of good and evil binary factors, the linear progressive historical thinking pattern of mechanism, narrowness, intolerance, cultural self judgment, and exclusion of dissidents. Its root precisely lies in the religious fundamentalist beliefs of the West. On the other hand, in China's religious beliefs or folk beliefs, if we take Western religions (the Abraham faith system) as a benchmark, then China's religious beliefs do include issues and drawbacks such as the polytheistic belief in ancestor worship and the utilitarian mentality of "temporarily clinging to Buddha's feet and worshiping gods only when there is something to do". But if we look at it from a different perspective (for example, just like feminists criticize patriarchy), and understand it from the traditional way of thinking and behavior of harmony in Chinese culture, this may actually be a characteristic and strength of Chinese culture, because it is precisely this kind of detached, indifferent, and indispensable attitude towards the afterlife and the world on the other side of the religious faith, which is viewed as a perfunctory attitude to maintain interpersonal relationships and group order, or as a routine etiquette and ceremony to set an example for future generations (as Confucius said, "Sacrifice as if it were present, and worship as if it were gods", "Do not know life, how do you know death"), which is similar to the Western mentality of perfunctory handling. The redemption mentality of viewing religious beliefs as the ultimate concern of human beings (relying on faith to hope for the salvation of the soul through redemption) is completely different and cannot be compared. In Chinese, using "religion" to translate a Western belief is just a borrowing. According to "Shuowen Jiezi": Zong, from Ju to Shi; Shi is called Shen, and Ju is called Wu. Zongzun Shuangsheng (homophonic); Zong, Zunye, ancestral temple. Those who are respected are called the Zong, while those who are respected are called the Zongzhi. Respecting one's ancestral temple is why it is called a ancestral temple. Teach, what is done above and what is done below, therefore follow filial piety. Derived as the content taught and learned, namely doctrines. Together, religion is a doctrine or ideological system revered by people. As an ideological system, Confucianism guides people to pay attention to their inner moral world, emphasizes the perfection of personality cultivation, and follows an inner transcendence path, while paying less attention to the purity of worship and faith content. Objectively, this leads to the Chinese people's tolerant, open-minded, inclusive, and inclusive way of dealing with others in their actions and behavior. As some ancient sayings and proverbs have said, "When water is clear, there is no fish; when people are observed, there is no disciple." "When gold is pure, there is no perfect person," and "living a pure world is equally despised." These all reflect the philosophy of "no intention, no necessity, no firmness, no self" in traditional Chinese culture, which is in stark contrast to the absoluteness and exclusivity of "no salvation beyond Christ" in Western religions. Only in this way did the Chinese nation avoid the Christian Crusades and Islamic holy war style religious massacres that occurred in Europe for thousands of years of history.

According to Habermas, the strong nationalist sentiment of Europeans who believe in Western religions is most concentrated in the long-standing prevalence of anti Semitism in European history. It is thought-provoking that in 70 AD, the Jews were defeated by the Romans, and the capital Jerusalem was captured and conquered. The people were brutally slaughtered, forced to leave their homes and wander around the world for nearly two thousand years. With the support of monotheistic religious beliefs and national language and culture, they still maintain the independent identity and status of the Jewish nation, which is widely respected and spread as a beautiful story. Weber's book "Ancient Judaism", like the other two works on Asian religions, focuses on revealing the economic ethics of Judaism and discussing the reasons why rational capitalism cannot emerge among Jews. His description of Jews as "untouchables" who are being expelled everywhere and his analysis of the reasons are related to the resolute rejection of witchcraft in Judaism and his belief in Jehovah's monotheism. Jews gathered in their place of residence in Palestine to worship and uphold the Lord as the One God, engaging in fierce competition and battles with the surrounding Phoenicians and Canaanites for their faith. These pagan gods favored indulgent revelry and mysterious witchcraft, while Jehovah taught Jews to learn the law through prophets to resist and oppose witchcraft. The unique worship of Yahweh monotheism, strong Messiah faith, and belief that Jews are a chosen people who have made a covenant with God, and that prophets can directly communicate with God and convey God's revelation, make Jews stand out from other ethnic groups in the surrounding area. In addition, Judaism has strengthened a unique set of religious rituals and laws, such as circumcision, adherence to the Sabbath without work, and prohibition of lending interest to members of its own ethnic group. These practices are also the natural reasons and specific situations for the Jewish people to adhere to the dual ethics of internal and external in the face of hostility towards neighboring ethnic groups. Although Weber further traced the religious ethics of Judaism back to the social ethics of the Jewish nation, believing that Jews had never developed rational capitalism, but only a traditional form of commercial capitalism - "untouchable capitalism.". But his discourse on Jewish "untouchables" highlights the distinct individual characteristics of this nation compared to other ethnicities, making Judaism an isolated religion completely isolated from other ethnicities. People can see from Weber's discourse that these characteristics objectively play a role in protecting Jewish people who are dispersed in different places for a long time from the danger of assimilation by neighboring ethnic groups and preserving their own national identity.

However, Mr. Pan Guangdan's research in "Several Historical Issues of Jewish People in China: Chinese Jews in Kaifeng" (1983) proves that a group of Jewish people who settled in China integrated into the Chinese nation in Kaifeng. Of course, the historical fact that the Jewish people in Kaifeng integrated into the Chinese nation has a complex interaction of subjective and objective factors. While the Jewish people played a major role in this established fact, who can say that it is not related to their surrounding ethnic groups, culture, social system, and religious beliefs? Why did Jews not integrate into Poland and Russia in Eastern Europe, nor into France and Germany in Western Europe (historically, Jews have been present in these regions), nor into neighboring countries such as India and the Middle East in Asia? Is all of this accidental? What is even more ironic is that Jews and Muslims living in other parts of the world either see each other as strangers who are old and dead, or engage in fierce battles over territorial survival space. However, the believers of the two religions in China have already merged into one family. Focusing on the historical origins, Judaism in China refers to itself as the ancient Hui religion, while Islam is referred to as the new Hui religion; Correspondingly, the titles of believers from both religions are only distinguished by the color of the hat they wear. For example, in Kaifeng, Jewish people wear black hats and call themselves Lanhui or Qinghui; Muslims, on the other hand, are known as Bai Hui Hui (as above) for wearing white hats. Considering the brutal persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II, which was unbearable, major countries around the world did not accept Jews. Even the United States, which was nicknamed the most free and democratic, did not unconditionally accept Jewish immigrants. Only China accepted all Jews who came to China for refuge without any identity or conditions, making Shanghai the city with the most Jewish gatherings at that time. The same example is that after the Soviet Revolution, a large number of white Russian nobles and Jews sought refuge in Northeast China, making Harbin a city where Russian Jews gathered at that time. All of these indicate the broad and inclusive attitude of Chinese culture towards faith, which is in stark contrast to the narrow exclusivity of the monotheistic redemption religion that Westerners firmly believe in. The conflict between Palestine, which has caused a stalemate in the Middle East issue in recent years, and Israel, which has received support from the United States, has almost evolved into a brutal war of retribution and a cycle of revenge. It is not difficult to see from this that the redemption religion of monotheism - whether it is Protestantism or Judaism in the United States or Israel, or Islam revered by the Arab nation or Palestinians - has an exclusivity in ultimate concern and an intolerance and uncompromising attitude towards "heretics" in behavior orientation, which reflects the narrowness of religious fundamentalism (or fundamentalism) and the absolute cultural dogmatism of apocalyptic theology that serves as spiritual support, inevitably weakens or deviates from the spiritual essence of their oral claims of "religious freedom" and multiculturalism. In the current era of globalization, the concept of "one family under heaven" in the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, as stated by Confucianism, advocates treating others around us with culture and morality, rather than using race and religion as standards. This kind of magnanimity and spirit, which embraces all rivers and is inclusive, will undoubtedly be further developed, because from the perspective of harmony, this spirit itself is the essential or fundamental essence of the "global" issue, and it is inevitably an indispensable component of global culture.

The original text was published in the 5th issue of Society in 2007, and transferred from the WeChat official account "Jurisprudence and Governance".